Introducing Dean Kamen, who will deliver the Guest Keynote at Pulse 2011, "The Future Belongs to Inventors"

As an inventor and physicist, Dean Kamen has dedicated his life to developing technologies that help people lead better lives. As an inventor, he holds more than 440 U.S. and foreign patents, many of them for innovative medical devices that have expanded the frontiers of health care worldwide. The array of products and technologies invented and developed by Mr. Kamen and the engineering team at DEKA is extremely broad. Two notable breakthrough medical devices invented and developed by DEKA are the HomeChoice™ portable dialysis machine, marketed by Baxter Healthcare, and the iBOT™ Mobility System, a sophisticated mobility aid developed for Johnson & Johnson. With the Segway™ Human Transporter, Mr. Kamen aspired to improve upon the most basic form of transportation, walking, by allowing people to go farther, move more quickly, and carry more without separating them from their everyday walking environment.

Among Mr. Kamen’s proudest accomplishments is founding FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization dedicated to motivating the next generation to understand, use and enjoy science and technology. In 2009, its flagship program, the FIRST Robotics Competition, will reach more than 42,000 high-school students on close to 1,700 teams in 40 regional competitions, seven district competitions, and one national championship. The FIRST Robotics Competition teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way.